The Jefferson City Council this week accepted a $50,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation to fund most of the costs of staffing the Jefferson City Memorial Airport (JEF) control tower.
It's a small contribution compared to the estimated $20 million to $25 million annual boost the airport provides to the local economy.
The MoDOT money provides operating assistance for the tower, reimbursing the city for up to 50 percent of all locally incurred expenses, Public Works Director Matt Morasch explained. The airport is an extension of the city's Public Works Department.
Britt E. Smith, Public Works' operations division director responsible for the airport, said the Capital City's airport is the busiest in outstate Missouri.
"We have more takeoffs and landings at JEF than Columbia," Smith said. "We have lots of charter flights, corporate jet traffic, military and all of the politicians coming and going on state business."
Morasch added, "The control tower participates in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Contract Tower Program, which pays 82 percent of the staffing costs, with the city responsible for the remaining 18 percent. This grant will reimburse the city for half of our portion of those staffing costs, as well as 50 percent of the utilities and maintenance costs associated with the operation of the control tower.
"The reimbursement derives from the State Aviation Trust Fund, which receives its revenue from the sales tax paid on the purchase of jet fuel at airports throughout the state," Morasch said. "The provisions of this agreement apply only to expenses incurred through the operation of the tower."
The tower is operated by Midwest Air Traffic Services Inc., under contract with the FAA. The tower operates 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. Twenty-four-hour radar service is provided by Mizzu Approach of Springfield. Fueling services are offered 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, with 24-hour service available on request.
The Jefferson City airport was opened in 1947-48, with a 2,500-foot paved runway and two grass strips.
Today, the main runway is 6,000 feet long and 100 feet wide. About 70 aircraft are housed there, with about 95 flights a day - around 35,000 this year.
Smith said 2016 marked one of the airport's busiest years.
"We've got an airport out there that not many people here in Jefferson City appreciate," Smith said. "It's really something."
Forty-eight percent of the air frames are single-engine, 22 percent are multi-engine, 13 percent are military, 9 percent are helicopters, and 7 percent are jets. Eighty-eight percent of its flights are general aviation, 15 percent military and 2 percent air taxi.